Most Americans now know Mike Bloomberg from his ads, but he was mayor of my city for more than a decade — here’s what I learned about him.

Bloomberg was a pretty good mayor. He even cut spending sometimes. New York City ran a budget surplus under his administration — until the recession hit.

Bloomberg also pushes against impossible spending from fellow Democrats. He says “Medicare for All” would “bankrupt us for a very long time.”

He’s pushed against the “Green New Deal,” saying he’s “tired of listening to things that are pie in the sky.”

He also celebrates work, and occasionally defends capitalism.

“We’re not going to throw out capitalism,” he told Bernie Sanders at a recent debate. “We tried that. Other countries tried that. It was called communism, and it just didn’t work!”

Good for Bloomberg.

Unfortunately, Bloomberg is also an arrogant nanny statist full of whims that he’d like to force on Americans.

As mayor, Bloomberg targeted soft drinks, smoking, flavored tobacco, loud music, grass clippings, salt, Styrofoam, restaurant menus…